Birds of Blue Feathers
by Hex26
Summary: Bia, Carla and Tiago have just been welcomed to the world. What challenges will the family face in its new found peace? Takes place a few days after the last chapter of Welcome to Rio.
1. Fly Fright

"Come on, you can do it," Jewel encouraged, gently edging Carla toward the edge. It was about time the chicks learnt to fly.

"Go on, it's easy," Blu said as well. Bia and Tiago were beside Blu, watching Carla closely.

Carla tried to look down, but Blu edged her head back forward.

"Don't look down, it won't help," Blu said hastily.

Carla looked anyway, and gulped.

"Don't worry, if you fall, I'll catch you," Jewel comforted.

The chick hesitated briefly, before jumping out, and frantically flapping her wings. She squealed as she panicked, hovering around the same spot, trying to get back onto the platform, when she realized that she wasn't falling. Carla looked down and around, fascinated by her newfound ability.

"See kids? It isn't that hard," Blu said.

"Easy for you to say," Jewel chuckled.

"At least I learnt how to some time ago," Blu replied.

"What do you mean Dad?" Bia asked, not familiar with the story of how Blu and Jewel met.

"That's something you'll know about next time," Jewel promised.

"Can I try now?" Tiago rushed over to the side, looking at Carla.

"Sure, knock yourself out," Blu permitted. "Not, literally."

Tiago had already leapt off the platform, and was doing somersaults in the air.

"Race ya!" He yelled out to Carla, zipping around the treehouse. Carla was quick to follow as the two chased each other around. Since Blu and Jewel's old hollow was burnt in the fire that happened two days ago, Linda and Tulio had built a tree house on a tall mango tree next to the aviary's old kitchen for the blue macaws.

"Slow down! You might hit something!" Blu warned, moving over to the two.

Jewel looked at Bia, and signaled for her to try. Bia walked over to the edge of the platform, and did what Carla did. She looked down. She immediately jumped back, lying on her back, panting. Jewel looked funny at her.

"You sure have your father's genes. Come on, it's not that hard," Jewel helped the chick up. Bia looked at the edge, and shivered slightly.

"It...its too high," she stammered, backing away from the edge.

Jewel went deep in thought, not sure what to do.

"It's not that bad, I'll catch you if you fall," Jewel said, taking flight and hovering in front of Bia.

Bia took a few deep breaths, and extended her wings, and prepared to jump. She hopped off the platform, flapping frantically, trying to imitate Carla. But to no avail.

Bia gasped as she noticed herself losing altitude rapidly.

"Help!" She called out, plummeting toward the ground.

Jewel didn't hesitate, and charged after her, and caught her in her talons. Bia squeaked and hugged Jewel's leg, refusing to let go.

"Blu, there's a slight problem," Jewel called her mate, landing back on the platform on one leg, stretching out the leg that Bia was holding.

"What happened to Bia?" Blu asked, landing with Carla and Tiago beside him.

Jewel hopped to face him.

"She seems... Afraid to fly," Jewel whispered. Blu gently pulled at Bia, and cradled her, trying to calm her down. Tiago and Carla looked at them, confused at what's happening. Bia's shivering slowly died down in her parent's embrace, and she finally calmed down.

"Now what?" Blu asked Jewel.

"You're asking me?" She asked skeptically.

"What's wrong with Bia?" Tiago asked, looking at his sister.

"Nothing's wrong with Bia," Jewel said.

"Maybe I should go ask Rafael, he might have dealt with this before," Blu suggested.

"Go ahead," Jewel said, while Blu gently placed Bia onto Jewel's wings, and headed for Rafael's.

Jewel looked at the sky, and remembered that she should gather food. She carried Bia over to her room, which was a little house with a circular entrance. The tree house consisted of four such wooden mini houses, one for each chick, and one larger one for Blu and Jewel. They were all connected with a few planks, leading to a wooden platform in front of Blu and Jewel's room.

"Don't get to any trouble, don't leave the treehouse, okay?" Jewel instructed her kids. All three nodded in agreement, and Jewel went off to fetch food for the family.

Meanwhile at Rafael's hollow, Blu was discussing Bia's case with Rafael.

"Well, I've never had a kid like that," Rafael admitted. "They all learnt to fly pretty quick. All the better to dodge me and Eva I guess."

"So, what do I do?" Blu asked again.

"Well she probably is afraid of the height, so maybe try her on a lower area. Where she definitely won't be scared," Rafael suggested.

"Actually that sounds like a good idea," Blu replied.

Meanwhile back at the treehouse, Tiago and Carla were talking to Bia.

"Carla and I have been thinking," Tiago said.

"Nope, mostly me," Carla laughed.

"Hey!"

"Anyways, we thought of something that might allow you to fly," Carla explained.

"And how do you intend to do that?" Bia asked, unconvinced,

"If we pile up some stuff in your room, you could jump off that instead to try and fly," Tiago added.

"It would certainly be way lower than outside," Carla said.

"Where are you going to get anything to pile up? Mom told us that we can't leave," Bia reminded.

"Oh... Right," Carla recalled.

"Nobody cares, what she doesn't know won't harm her," Tiago was already prepared to go.

"What I don't know will certainly harm me, Tiago," Someone said from behind.

The three chicks turned to look, and saw Jewel standing at the entrance.

"Oh! Hey! Didn't see you there," Tiago covered up nervously.

"Hi Mom, how long have you been standing there?" Carla asked.

"I just came," Jewel replied. "What are you three discussing?"

"Nothing," Tiago grinned widely at Jewel.

Jewel stared at Tiago briefly, and decided to not intrude, further. She left for a moment, and pushed in half a papaya from outside.

"Don't finish it if you can't, okay?" Jewel said, leaving the kids to enjoy their meal.

"Interesting fruit," Bia commented, closely observing the brightly colored flesh, and the black seeds.

"It's fruit, it's not interesting," Tiago said, burying his head in the middle of the papaya.

"Ew," Carla groaned as Tiago made a mess of the fruit. She settled at one end of the fruit, and picked out bits to eat one at a time. Bia sniffed at the fruit, picked out a portion and tasted it.

"Hmm," she grunted, and, like Carla, picked out parts of the fruit to eat.

Meanwhile in Blu and Jewel's room, the two mates were discussing Bia's situation, while eating the other half of the papaya.

"How is she going to fly from so low down?" Jewel asked, unconvinced that the plan would work.

"Well, is there a better plan you can think of?" Blu replied, with his mouth full of fruit.

"No," Jewel admitted.

"What if she doesn't learn to fly?" Jewel asked, still worried.

"She will. Eventually," Blu reassured.

Jewel shuddered as she imagined Bia finally able to fly... But at Blu's age.

"The plan had better work," Jewel sighed.


	2. Observe and Follow

"This really does seem... Much too low don't you think?" Jewel frowned at the dead log Bia was standing on. It was roughly only the height of Jewel, and she found it rather amusing that Bia had a chance of learning to fly from that.

"How is there enough space to fly?" Jewel continued.

"Well, we'll never know until we try isn't it?" Blu said.

Bia certainly was calmer on the lower area than she was on the treehouse platform. Without much wait, she launched herself off the log, and flapped with all her might, trying to keep in the air. The chick managed to stay in the air for a brief moment, before she fell to the ground.

"See? It's much too low," Jewel said.

"Was I flying?" Bia asked, peering at Blu and Jewel.

"Well, for some time, sort of," Blu replied, not too sure how to phrase her situation.

"Maybe it is too low," Blu continued, looking around for a slightly higher platform.

Bia frowned as she realized that she had to use a higher area.

"How about up there?" Blu had found a low lying branch, just about double the height of the log.

While Blu and Jewel were trying to get Bia to fly, they had left Carla and Tiago with Rafael's family in the meantime. That also meant that they were with Rafael and Eva's kids.

Tiago fit right in with them, being as energetic as they were, leaving Carla the butt of numerous pranks and jokes.

"Whoa, whoa... Wait. You guys want to all chase me at once?!" She squawked when the others proposed their little game. She gaped as 19 of them nodded with enthusiasm.

"Oh come on! That's just crazy," Carla huffed. "This is very one sided. How am I supposed to win?"

Tiago chuckled as he replied.

"You don't," he smiled, along with his 18 new found friends.

"Then why would I wanna play?" Carla asked dubiously.

"That's one sided too," Tiago replied.

"Nineteen to one," he laughed.

His sister laughed nervously, backing away as the others slowly followed.

"Look! It's Eva!" Carla gasped, pointing in a direction. All the toucan kids and Tiago turned to look, allowing Carla to shoot off.

"Hey! You don't win that easy!"

For the umpteenth time, Bia fell onto Jewel after jumping off the branch.

"You're not meant to just jump, try flapping your wings downward," Jewel advised after catching her again.

"But I'm trying," Bia whined.

"This isn't really working. Should I go ask Tulio?" Blu suggested.

"Nah, not yet. Not until it's totally not working," Jewel replied.

"Who's Tulio?" Bia asked.

"He's a human that helps birds," Blu explained simply.

"In fact, he helped build your room."

Bia struggled to recall. She couldn't remember who built the treehouse.

"Alright, back to work," Jewel said, carrying Bia up onto the branch again.

"This time, try observing how I fly," Jewel instructed.

Bia watched as Jewel jumped off the branch and flew easily.

"You're making it seem easy!" Bia complained.

"Well it is," Jewel replied. "Go on. Try it again."

Bia exhaled and focused on her mother's flying. She observed closely at Jewel's wings, and extended her own, following in sync. Total silence enveloped around the chick as she felt the rhythm.

 _Up, down, up, down..._

Bia prepared, and jumped. Jewel widened her eyes a little as Bia hovered for a few seconds straight...

The silence in Bia's mind suddenly broke, and she lost her focus. Her wings started going at irregular and frantic speeds, and she flapping around, as if stuck in a web. Not long after, she started falling. With a swift action, Bia grabbed onto Jewel's leg, and held on, whimpering a little as she looked down.

"It isn't that high!" Jewel huffed, slowly lowering herself to the ground.

"That was so close, you almost got it," Blu said.

"Yes, you almost did it," Jewel agreed, looking at Bia while standing on one leg. Bia still hadn't gotten off Jewel.

"Er, you can come off now, we're on the ground," Jewel said, gently shaking her leg.

Bia looked down and loosened a little, until she finally slipped off onto the ground.

"Shall we try again?" Jewel asked.

Bia hesitated as she thought.

"Okay."

 _This shall be my last attempt._

 _Don't fall!_

Bia's mind seemed to be talking to her, and she shook her head a little in slight confusion.

Jewel carried her up to the branch again. Bia stood on the branch, and closed her eyes as she took a couple of deep breaths. As Blu and Jewel watched, Bia took a short jump, with her eyes still shut.

Bia bit down as she expected herself to hit the ground, or fall onto Blu. But a few seconds passed, and that didn't happen.

"Bia! You're flying!"

At Rafael's hollow, the toucans, plus Tiago, had all too predictably cornered Carla.

"Do a forfeit!" Tiago laughed, intent on seeing Carla making a fool of herself.

"What! No!" Carla refused, crossing her wings. "This was unfair from the beginning anyway."

"So why would it be fair now?" Tiago asked.

"For the sake of it?" Carla replied.

The toucans suddenly broke into some whispering, hiding their conversation from Tiago and Carla.

"Hey what you guys talking about?" Tiago tried to know. Carla tried to sneak off, but was blocked by a few toucans.

Without much warning, Tiago was pushed in with Carla, and the toucans surrounded them in a jiffy.

"That's what you get for ditching me," Carla said smugly as she saw her brother with her.

"What are they doing?" Tiago asked nervously as the toucans slowly closed in with mischievous looks.

"Now you know how I've been feeling," Carla replied.

"Charge!" One of the toucans yelled.

Carla and Tiago tried to fly away, but we're both pinned down by the kids.

"Attack!"

The two blue macaws burst out laughing, as the toucans tickled them all over.

"Nohoho! Lemme go!" Carla gasped as she tried to crawl away from the tickling wings, only to notice that one of them was holding her down.

"Ah it's just initiation," one of the toucans laughed.


	3. Initiation

"Okay Bia, Blu and I need to go meet a friend. So in the mean time, we'll drop you off at Rafael's," Jewel said.

Blu and Jewel were escorting Bia to Rafael's hollow. They wanted to go visit Linda's bookstore, and were worried that the kids would be in danger in the urban zone.

"Behave yourself okay?" Blu said, briefly hugging Bia after they reached her destination.

"Okay. Bye Mom, Bye Dad," Bia waved goodbye as her parents left.

"I wonder where Carla and Tiago went," Bia wondered aloud, walking around the hollow.

And then in a corner, she found Tiago and Carla hiding.

"Guys? What are you doing?" Bia asked her siblings.

Tiago and Carla frantically shook their heads, and hushed her.

Carla beckoned her to hide with them.

"What's going on?" Bia whispered, and sat beside Tiago.

"It's Rafael's kids. They've been chasing us all over the place all day as part of some initiation," Tiago went to the point.

"What so fun about that game if you hide throughout?" Bia asked.

"This isn't a game. They are literally chasing us," Carla replied.

"And doing what?" Bia pressed.

Carla and Tiago looked at each other, and silently agreed that they weren't going to tell her how they got tickled silly.

"You don't want to find out," Tiago said.

"Yes I do," his sister pressed on, curious about the outcome.

Tiago thought for a moment on what to say.

"Well, you could go get caught, and find out," Tiago shared his bad idea.

Bia looked suspiciously at Tiago.

"Well, if you really wanna know, that's what you gotta do," Carla agreed with Tiago's plan. Bia was the only one that hadn't been "initiated" yet.

"You guys are just pulling my leg," Bia whined.

"Then don't find out," Tiago chuckled.

"Or you could just tell me?" Bia asked.

"No, we can't," Carla tried to sidestep the question. "It's... Complicated."

"Oh come on!"

"Go find out for yourself!" Carla smiled, and pushed Bia out.

Just at the moment, one of the toucan kids entered the hollow, and saw Bia.

"Hey guys! Bia's here!" He called out.

In a flash, the toucans rushed to the hollow.

"Hi guys," Bia greeted casually.

"Did you find Tiago and Carla?" One of the toucans asked.

Bia hesitated.

"Err... No?"

"That's a shame," The toucan replied. "They still have the rest of their day here as initiation."

"You're lying though," the toucan said smugly.

"No I'm not," Bia replied unconvincingly.

"Well, it's time to start your initiation anyway. Might as well tell us," another toucan yawned.

"But I don't know where they are," Bia kept acting.

"Okay then. Charge!"

Bia had a shock of her life when all 18 toucans dashed toward her. She turned to try and escape, but to no avail. The others easily pinned her down.

"Attack!"

Bia shut her eyes, fearing the worst. Before she started laughing.

Like how they did with Carla and Tiago, the toucans trapped Bia, and tickled her in her restrained state.

"Stohohop! That tickles!" Bia giggled, squirming around, trying to escape.

"Well, we might, if you tell us where Carla and Tiago went," one of the toucans offered.

"But I don't know!" Bia squealed as someone tickled her neck.

In the commotion, Tiago and Carla snuck off, and escaped without the toucans noticing.

"I feel kind of guilty letting Bia get into that," Carla laughed.

"She was gonna give us all up with all her talking anyway," Tiago replied.

"Where do we go now?" Carla asked.

"We can hide in the leaves on top," Tiago suggested. And that's where they encamped themselves.

"Okay guys, it's time for her to start running! A toucan announced, and the group let Bia go.

"If we catch you, we get to do whatever we want for five minutes," the toucan smiled evilly as he explained the rules to Bia.

"You have one minute of grace before we chase," he continued.

"Wait, what!" Bia exclaimed, unable to believe what she got herself into.

"You heard the rules. Time is ticking," the toucan laughed.

Without hesitating, Bia rushed out of the hollow.

"You two should've warned me!" Bia nudged Tiago and Carla after she found them hiding in the leaves.

"We did, but you insisted on knowing why," Carla said.

"You could've told me!"

"And you wouldn't have laughed at us?" Tiago asked.

"I laughed much more than I should have because you didn't!" Bia huffed.

"Too late to care now," Tiago smiled.

"Guys! Up there!" One of the toucans pointed at them from the ground.

"Uh oh," Carla gulped.

"RUN!" Tiago screeched, and bolted away, followed by Carla and Bia, and then 18 pursuers.

It didn't take long to round up the blue macaws, as expected.

Soon, the three were cornered.

"Hmm, what should we do?" A toucan asked, stroking her chin with a wing.

"We can tie them up!" One of the toucans suggested.

The kids agreed among themselves, except of Bia, Carla and Tiago of course, and immediately got to work.

Soon the macaws were tied upside down from the ceiling.

"Well, this has been going great," Carla said sarcastically.

"I'm bored," Tiago moaned, swinging around.

"You can be bored during all of this?" Bia asked in minor amazement.

"Wait, where's all the toucans?" Carla asked, noticing the missing birds.

The trio tried to look around in their restraints, but couldn't look behind them.

Unexpectedly, someone grabbed Bia and Tiago's head from behind and pushed them together. Bia and Tiago's beaks bumped, and the two hastily separated, retching and groaning in disgust as the toucans, and Carla laughed.

"Oh come on! Was that necessary?" Bia asked, still disgusted.

"You got to admit, that was pretty funny," Carla chuckled.

"No it isn't!" Tiago argued, struggling against the vines.

"Shouldn't Blu and Jewel be back by now?" Bia asked.

"They sure are taking their time," Carla sighed.

Just then, Rafael entered the hollow.

"I brought food ba... Hey! What's going on? Get them down," Rafael pointed out.

In a jiffy, Bia, Carla and Tiago were freed.

"Gee, are you guys okay?" Rafael asked.

"Yea we're fine," Carla replied before Tiago and Bia could.

"Real mature guys, real mature," Rafael commented, looking at his kids.

They simply laughed, and went back about their business.

"Kay then, since the newbies lasted, initiation, over," a toucan declared.

In the new found peace, the macaws and the toucans happily enjoyed their food together.


	4. The Bookstore

"So, how was your day there" Blu asked the kids.

They were finally heading home after a long day at Rafael's.

"Well, the morning was really chaotic and crazy, but after lunch, it was pretty fun," Carla yawned. It had been a very active day with their even more active friends.

"Glad you all got along," Jewel smiled, relived that the toucans didn't seem to have done anything too nasty.

"Oh they don't even know the whole story," Bia whispered to Tiago.

"They shall never, ever, ever know. What do you say?" Tiago whispered back.

"Deal," Bia agreed.

"Agreed," Carla nodded.

Soon the family reached the treehouse, and the three young ones swiftly entered their respective rooms and went to sleep. Blu and Jewel did the same shortly after.

All except Tiago, who found himself unable to sleep. He tossed and turned, grumbling as he did so, and finally tried to sit up. The moment he did, his body seemed to start grumbling at his action, and he lied down again. Tiago grunted at the boring predicament he was in. His mind was too awake to sleep, and his body was too lazy to be awake.

"Oh my god!" Tiago groaned, rolling around in frustration, as it was the only physical exertion his body would allow.

Finally, after some time, the boredom had forced his body out of its comfort and allowed him to get up. Tiago waltzed out of his room and flew over to his Bia's room to check if she was awake. Frankly, he didn't expect her to be. He crept past Jewel and Blu's room, and snuck into Bia's room. His sister was deep in a dream, murmuring to herself softly. Tiago looked for a moment, and snuck out, careful to not disturb her.

 _Maybe Carla is awake._

Tiago flew up to his eldest sibling's room, and peeked in. Carla was in a corner, snoring loudly.

 _Some hope I had._

Tiago grumbled and went back to his room to try and sleep again.

 _What a long night._

Tiago frowned as his mind kept thinking of random lines.

"Shut up!" He hissed, and knocked his forehead lightly.

 _Long night indeed._

Tiago slapped his wing against his face and groaned.

In the day, everyone was up and ready to go. Blu and Jewel had planned to bring the kids to see Linda's bookstore for the first time, since they had confirmed that it was safe enough.

"You all ready to go?" Blu called out. All the little ones were eager and raring to go. Except Tiago, who didn't get enough sleep.

"You look very tired," Jewel commented, observing Tiago's drowsy state.

"Nah I'm ready," Tiago yawned lethargically.

Carla and Bia looked at him. He was never that inactive.

"Okay then," Jewel glanced once more, and decided that nothing was wrong.

"Alright, before we go, stick close to Jewel and I, okay? It may be a little dangerous," Blu instructed, laying down ground rules.

"Why? What could happen?" Bia asked.

"Oh, many things," Jewel replied.

Despite the unsatisfying answer, Bia decided to drop the subject. Soon, the family left to tree house and started toward Linda's bookstore.

As they broke out of the jungle, Blu cautioned everyone yet again. By the time, Blu's words were going in one ear and out the other for Tiago, who was still yawning in his flight.

"Tiago! Watch out!"

The blue macaw snapped out of his brief dreams, and realized that he was traveling slightly toward the wrong direction. As his vision cleared, he bumped into something hard. It was glass.

"What the," Tiago grumbled, as he finally got fully awake.

"It's glass. It's a transparent material," Blu explained, much to Bia's interest.

Blu read out the logo design on the glass.

"Yep we're here," he confirmed.

"What's this made of?" Bia asked, pecking the smooth surface.

Carla squinted at the glass, and felt it with a talon.

Blu flew up to a bell, and pecked it. The shrill noise of the little contraption shocked the kids a little.

But Linda shocked them more.

"Hi Blu," Linda greeted.

The kids screamed, and hid behind Jewel.

"Guys! Guys, it's okay! Linda's not going to hurt you," Jewel calmed the children down.

"These are your chicks?" Linda asked "Aw! They're so cute!"

"Hey! i'm not cute!" Tiago retorted.

"Too bad, humans can't understand our language. Try using body language," Blu advised.

"Come on in," Linda beckoned, holding the door open for the visitors.

Inside, the kids raced around the new environment, looking at all the new objects. Linda brought out 2 cups of hot chocolate for the birds, and placed them on her computer desk, where a third half empty mug already resided.

"Come on kids, you may want to try this," Blu called out, taking a sip, while Jewel chewed on a marshmallow.

"What's this brown thing?" Tiago asked, sniffing the foreign beverage.

"Is it safe to drink?" Bia asked, not appeased by the color.

"It smells good," Carla commented, staring at the brown liquid.

"Oh come on, try it for yourselves, you'll love it!" Blu laughed.

Tiago bit into a marshmallow, and pulled it out from the mug. His satisfied chewing was enough for Bia and Carla to try as well. Bia sipped a little as a sample.

"This is sweet!" She tweeted, immediately gulping down more.

"Hey leave some for me!" Carla joined in the race.

"Slow down, there's more than enough," Jewel said.

Soon, the mug was half drained, and the kids still weren't really done yet. But all of a sudden, the kids stopped eating, and started hopping around and chasing each other.

"Er... Blu?" Jewel asked, looking at the new scene.

"Uh oh, must be a sugar rush," Blu replied.

The kids zoomed around at hyper speed, shooting around the bookstore like mini blue bullets, laughing and flying everywhere.

"Oh man! Oh man!" Blu immediately panicked, and chased after them. "Calm down! Calm down!"

Linda walked down the stairs, only to be used as a turning junction for Tiago.

"Whoa," she looked around at the scene of Blu chasing down the three birds.

Jewel looked in amusement, confident that the kids wouldn't get into any physical harm.

Linda laughed a little at the situation, and tried to gently cup one of the kids as well. She soon succeeded in catching Bia, who squirmed in Linda's hands. Linda passed Bia to Jewel, who grabbed onto the wiggling chick. Bia giggled and rolled around in Jewel's wings, almost getting free multiple times.

"Whoa hey! Calm down," Jewel laughed as well, while trying to keep her wings around Bia.

Blu wasn't having as much fun as he tried to chase Carla and Tiago, who were still racing around the shop. Soon, Carla was rounded up by Blu and Linda, leaving Tiago shooting around and about.

After what seemed like ages, the sugar effect wore off, and the kids felt the after effect instead.

"Gee, I can barely move," Tiago groaned, and flopped against a cup.

Carla did so as well, and the two stared at the current events from there.

Bia, however, wasn't too heavily affected, and was still flying around the store in a less hyperactive way.

"Hey Dad, what does sanctuary mean?" Bia asked, reading off a book's title.

Blu observed, and flew over to her.

"Where did you learn that word?" He asked, curious.

"I just read off this thing," Bia explained, pointing at a book cover.

"You can read?" Jewel asked from the desktop.

"A little," Bia replied shyly.

"Gee, I never knew that. How did you learn?" Blu asked, impressed already.

"I looked at Linda reading, along with random stuff you read when you see them," Bia replied.

"I read out words I see?" Blu murmured.

"Yea you do," Jewel replied.

"Well, do you have an interest in all this reading?" Blu asked.

Bia's eyes brightened as she nodded.

"I can teach you some time," Blu promised.

"Can I learn now?" Bia asked excitedly.

"Er... Sure," Blu replied, not expecting the request.

As Blu flew over to Jewel, she whispered a question to him.

"Blu, what's she gonna do with a skill like that?"

"Well, lots of things. She could report to Tulio, learn new things, so many things can be accomplished if she's literate," Blu replied.

"Point taken," Jewel agreed. It would be good for at least one of the kids to know how to communicate with Tulio.

"Reading? Really?" Carla asked, half amused.

"That's gotta be so boring," Tiago commented.

"It may be at first, but you can learn a lot," Blu replied.

Just at the moment, background classical music started playing. Most of the family briefly took notice, then went back to their business, except Carla, who listened to the rhythms with interest.

"Now what, you're gonna start composing music?" Tiago teased.

"Maybe," Carla replied dreamily.

Tiago laughed a little at the unexpected reply.

"At least I'm gonna do something, what about you?" She teased back.

"I'm gonna be a natural being!" Tiago replied smugly.

"And lead a boring life being cute," Carla laughed.

"I'm not cute!"


	5. Kid's Club

"Wow, you've been staring at that thing for ages!" Tiago wowed.

"Reading, not staring," Bia corrected.

Linda had given Bia some of her old books, and Bia had been reading since it got bright enough to.

"You can't be serious," Tiago giggled.

"What's so funny?" Bia asked, without turning her head away.

"You! You're funny!" Tiago teased.

"Right, right," Bia rolled her eyes.

"I'm bored, I'm gonna go do something else," Tiago pretended to turn and leave.

"Okay," Bia replied.

Without her noticing, Tiago had snuck back into her room, and crept up behind her. And with one swift pounce...

"BOO!"

He could've said that Bia literally got the shock of her life.

"Oh come on!" Bia huffed, rolling Tiago off her.

Tiago was still rolling around laughing.

"Priceless!" Tiago squealed.

Just as he was laughing, another figure crept behind him.

"HEY TIAGO!"

The victim screamed and hid behind Bia.

Carla dusted her wings as she looked at Tiago smugly, while it was Bia's turn to start laughing.

"Did you have to? I was having a victorious moment!" Tiago whined.

"You should've heard your pitch! Even higher than Bia's," Carla teased.

"No I wasn't!" Tiago argued. Bia continued laughing at her brother's added embarrassment.

"We'll see who's laughing after this!" Tiago pounced on Bia, engaging in a playful wrestle. Carla chuckled as she joined in the mess. The three rolled around the room until Blu came in to check on the noise.

"What's going on?"

The three little ones paused for a moment, and saw Blu staring from the entrance.

"Nothing is going on," Tiago smiled innocently.

"Nope. You can return to whatever you were doing before," Bia added.

Blu shrugged, and moved away. Before the kids could continue, Blu popped in again.

"Oh by the way, Jewel and I are going to a club. You wanna tag along?" Blu asked.

"What club?" Bia asked.

"You'll see."

"A club? Cool! Count me in!" Tiago agreed.

"Might be stuff worth hearing there," Carla nodded.

"Okay," Bia said simply.

Soon, the family reached the cave. It was a busier day for the club, and it was packed.

"Stay close, you might get lost," Blu instructed.

"Whoo Hooo!" A cry echoed from a few paces away. Blu turned to see Tiago doing somersaults in the crowd.

"Hey! Get back here!" Blu chased after the little troublemaker through the dense crowd.

Nico and Pedro were currently performing a pop song, and the electrifying tunes echoed around the cave in a rather engaging manner. Carla admired the two, flying in the air to see the performers. Bia noticed her sister's rather dreamy look, and giggled.

"Have a new crush or something?" Bia asked, still amused.

Carla was rudely ripped from her trance at the sound of Bia's question.

"Err... No!" Carla reddened.

"Okay," Bia smiled, and followed Jewel through the crowds.

"Come on! We can get closer!" Jewel promised, beckoning for Carla to follow.

Carla turned to follow Jewel as well, lured by the promise.

Soon, Jewel reached a good spot near the foodpile, and closer to the stage. Carla continued her dreamy staring at the performers while Jewel introduced Bia to the club's barkeep.

"This is Eri. He was there when you guys hatched," Jewel described briefly. There was a sort of raised ring of sticks and pebbles around the foodpile, and Eri normally leaned on it from the inside, and it made him look like a human barkeep in a brewery. He peered over his "counter", and smiled at Bia.

"Hi, I'm Bia," the macaw introduced, and hovered upward so he didn't need to lean over the counter to see her.

"Hello," Eri replied, in his usual soft, and almost inaudible tone.

"Where's your brother?" Eri asked, spotting Carla, but not Tiago.

Bia opened her mouth to reply when Tiago popped out from the crowd behind her and dived back in, whooping in excitement, while Blu was chasing after him. Bia traced Eri's distracted eyes, and saw the amusing scene. Jewel followed the two, but missed the drama as Tiago disappeared in the crowd along with Blu.

"What are you two looking at?" She asked.

"You just missed it," Bia replied.

Before Jewel could ask again, Nico and Pedro's song drew to a close, and the crowd's cheering drowned her intention to. Carla cheered along with the crowd at her new found idols.

"Oh boy," Bia murmured.

Just as she did so, Tiago burst out from the crowd, with Blu chasing after him. With a swift grab, Jewel caught the runner.

"Tiago, you know better than that," Jewel said sternly, putting him down.

"Yea... Sorry," Tiago apologized sheepishly as Blu burst out from the crowd, panting.

"Don't... Do... That... Ever!" Blu wheezed.

"Hey Blu!" A voice called out.

Nico and Pedro had spotted the blue macaws, and made their way over to them.

"Aw you two were gone too long!" Pedro landed with Nico not far behind.

"Yea, sorry about that. We were showing some people around," Jewel smiled, turning to the kids. Carla was literally stunned that Blu and Jewel knew Nico and Pedro, and stood there gawking like an idiot.

"Hello there," Nico greeted Tiago and Bia, not noticing Carla staring from a corner.

"Where's Carla?" Jewel murmured to nobody, and soon spotted her.

"Oh, the one over there is Carla," Jewel introduced for the stunned bird.

"Hey there Carla," Pedro called out.

 _Come on! Say something!_ Carla's mind was screaming at her numbed body.

"Hey," she replied lamely.

 _OH COME ON!_ Her mind screamed even louder.

Nico chuckled at his new fan.

"Have you guys seen Alice and Aaron?" Blu asked. He hadn't seen them for some time.

"Nah those two have eggs to take care of. They're encamped at their new place all the time now," Pedro explained.

"Oh, that's wonderful! How many," Jewel inquired.

"Two," Nico replied. "You mean you guys didn't hear the news about that?"

"Where would we have heard it from?" Blu asked.

"Rafael knows," Pedro replied.

"He didn't say," Jewel said.

Bia and Tiago were bored by the talking, and went to explore the food pile instead, while Carla continued her internal bickering.

"Gee, that's a lot of fruits," Tiago commented.

"I have never seen most of these before," Bia agreed, closely observing each and every fruit.

"Hey look at that one!" Tiago spotted a group of oddly colored fruits in a corner. The fruits were weirdly yellow and blue, and were unlike anything the kids have ever seen.

"I've got to try this!" Tiago laughed, plucking one of them from the food pile.

"I don't know... It looks poisonous," Bia hesitated.

"Aw what could happen?" Tiago asked.

Before Bia could say anything, Tiago bit into the fruit, causing Bia to gape at his plain stupid boldness.

"This tastes great!" Tiago exclaimed, biting a few more bits.

"Really?" Bia asked.

"Yea!"

Bia looked at the strange fruit one last time, and bit off a chunk to try it.

"Sweet!" Bia smiled, and the two continued scoffing down the fruit.

"-were the eggs laid," Blu began, but was rudely interrupted by rather loud laughing.

"Hello there fellas!" Tiago boomed, and Bia laughed along with him. The two waltzed around the group, raising a few eyebrows.

"Hey Blu, what's your favorite color?" Bia asked randomly.

"Oh my! For someone that reads so much, you seem blinded! It has to be BLUE!"

The two laughed at their rather strange joke, while Blu, Jewel, Carla, and the rest stared.

"Those two are off their rockers," Pedro commented.

"Hey beautiful, what's your name?" Tiago asked Jewel, with a rather dazed look.

Jewel stared into his pupils. And noticed the issue.

"Uh, I think they ate one of those crazy fruits," Jewel said.

"What crazy fruit? The only crazy one is you!" Bia said, pointing at Jewel.

"That's debatable," Carla chimed in.

"You!" Bia pointed straight at Carla. Carla went back a little, looking at the wing pointed at her.

"You stole my stuff!" Bia accused.

"Okay, what did I steal?" Carla asked, thoroughly confused.

"I have no idea!" Bia replied, keeping a serious face.

"How much did they eat?" Blu asked, picked Tiago up.

Eri fumbled around the ring, looking for any evidence of the leftovers they could've left.

Tiago poked Blu's beak, and laughed.

"You're spooking me out a little," Blu murmured, putting Tiago on the ground beside Bia.

Bia burped, and Tiago followed, and the two entered a strange made up contest.

"Ew," Carla groaned, edging away.

"What do we do?" Blu asked.

"Well, all we can do is wait. That's what I did when you were like that," Jewel replied.

Eri returned from his search.

"I didn't find any leftovers, implying that they ate one whole fruit together," Eri reported.

Blu and Jewel looked at each other in shock. That was much more than what Blu had eaten. And he was tipsy for a few hours. There was no telling how long this would last.

"Don't worry, it wears off when they sleep," Nico comforted.

"Hey, did you know Carla likes you?" Bia whispered to Nico, in a rather loud manner.

Carla blushed deeply, both from embarrassment, and slight annoyance.

"Not as much as how you love Mom's leg!" Tiago pushed Bia into Jewel. As Bia fell clumsily, she grabbed hold of Jewel leg, and held on tightly.

"What! Oh come on!" Jewel shook her leg, but Bia's grip hardly faltered.

Tiago laughed at the scene, and wanted to start flying, but Blu grabbed on to him.

"Maybe we should go home?" Blu suggested.

"Yes we should," Jewel agreed, still gently shaking her leg as Bia continued to stay.

"I want a giant tree! Then I can throw it at another tree!" Tiago exclaimed as Blu held onto Tiago with his talons.

"Oh boy," Blu murmured.


	6. Like Father, Like Daughter

It wasn't as difficult as Blu and Jewel thought. Soon after they got home, the two delirious macaws soon went to sleep, but not before wrecking some havoc on their own.

"That fruit is slowly getting on my nerves," Jewel growled, as she swept away the random abnormalities. She blew at what seemed like a pile of dirt, but revealed itself to be a bunch of spiders as they crawled away.

"What the," Jewel murmured, staring at the arachnids leaving the platform.

Without her knowledge, Tiago had carried all the spiders that he could find back to the treehouse.

"I hope that has nothing to do with Tiago and Bia," Blu said, hopping out of the way as the little lifeforms crawled under the platform and down the tree.

After a few hours, Tiago rose up with a throbbing headache, groaning in his rather unpleasant state. He sat up, rubbing the sides of his head with two wings. As he slowly jogged his memory, he recalled trying to get Jewel to go on a date with him. Tiago groaned even louder, and slapped his forehead. He faintly felt an intrusion on his wing, and he brought it closer to his face to examine it. Nothing. He was about to let it go, when he felt another twitch, this time more distinct. He turned over his wing, and yelped. A spider, the size of his beak or so, hopped off his wing, and scrambled away. Tiago watched in minor fascination as the rather creepy looking animal escaped from his room. His memory seemed to fully refresh, and he remembered catching a ton of spiders, and tossing them on the platform. Well, all except one apparently. The blue macaw figured that he would be in trouble for all the...trouble, and decided to continue sleeping. He had a headache after all.

Shortly after, Bia had awoken.

 _Ow... My head..._

She grumbled as she held her head, and attempted to massage the pain away, but to not much effect. Bia groaned again, as she sat up, and supported her dizzying sight by literally steadying her head with her wings. As her five senses slowly woke up, a tingly sensation itched at her upper back and neck, causing Bia to twitch a little. She reached behind her back to feel the area, and touched something alien. Bia squeaked in shock, and grabbed onto the intruder, flinging it forward. A large, hairy tarantula flew over her head and landed upside down with a light thud on the ground. Bia froze at the sight. It was huge to Bia, almost half of her size. The monstrous spider wiggled for a bit, and got back to the right side up. Bia breathed in sharply, and hopped back. The arachnid shifted around, and, much to Bia's horror, made its way toward her. Bia shifted back more and more, but the spider continued moving closer, and the process repeated until Bia ran out of space to run to. Whimpering a little, she looked at the creepy crawly come closer and closer.

"MOM!" Bia screamed out.

The spider jumped a little at the noise and seemed to go on an overdrive, unfortunately for Bia, it went on an overdrive facing her.

She squealed in shock, trying to scramble away, but she was too slow, and the spider crawled right onto her. Jewel and Blu finally rushed in to see what was wrong, only to be greeted with Bia running around screaming.

"What's wrong?" Jewel asked, not seeing the problem.

Bia stuttered random, unidentifiable words, still running around. Blu grabbed onto her.

"Calm down! Calm down!" Blu repeated as he tried to shake some sense into her.

Bia was still jumpy and continued shivering, as the spider crawled around just out of her parents' line of sight.

"Okay, tell us what's wrong," Blu instructed slowly and calmly.

Bia suddenly became more and more jumpy, and instead of trying to say anything, she turned around slowly. Blu saw the spider, and yelped, jumping back and almost out of the room. The noise shocked the spider, and it started scampering all over Bia, from her back to her front over and over. The rather ticklish and creepy sensation was enough to make Bia enter another episode of panic. Jewel hesitated briefly, and then quickly slapped the spider off in one precise swing. The tarantula was flung outside the house, and off the treehouse. Or so they thought.

The tarantula latched onto Blu's face. Now it was his turn to panic.

"You two have too much in common!" Jewel grumbled, and smacked the spider off, accidentally slapping Blu in the process. The intruder truly fell off the tree, and landed harmlessly in the dead leaves below. Bia fell backward in relief, panting heavily.

"It's just a spider! It's smaller than half your size!" Jewel huffed, finding it amusing that Blu and Bia were afraid of a smaller species. Though that particular spider did scare her a little.

"Sorry," Blu apologized, rubbing his cheek where he was slapped.

"You two are unbelievable," Jewel laughed a little, unable to keep a straight face, although she did intend to.

Bia took a few deep breaths, still shocked by what happened. Carla popped in, finally curious enough to see what the racket was about.

"What's all that noise?" She asked.

"Oh nothing, it's just your father and your sister screaming in fear at a spider," Jewel explained before the others could.

"Dad is afraid of spiders?" Carla asked, just as amused as Jewel.

The two shared a laugh, as Blu and Bia looked at each other.

They sure did have a lot in common.

"I really hate spiders," Bia sighed, lying on her back, and facing the ceiling.

"Ditto," Blu agreed, turning to leave and go about his business.

As her heart calmed down more, she recalled what she did in her delirious state, and blushed.

 _Good thing nobody's talking about it..._

As Jewel turned to leave as well, Carla stayed behind to tease her sister.

Guess I concluded too soon... Bia thought as Carla happily recited each and every weird and embarrassing thing she said while she was nuts, drawing amusement from Bia's blushing.

"Oh the list never ends!" Carla laughed.

"Can I announce it to the toucans?" Carla asked innocently.

"WHAT! No!" Bia squealed, already imagining the utter embarrassment if so many knew.

"That's a pity," Carla winked, causing Bia to gulp.


	7. Stroke of weird

A scream echoed through the smoke. Jewel's vision blurred as she darted around, coughing uncontrollably. Thick billows of black smoke engulfed around her, with the sound of widespread panic echoing from behind. A tree creaked dangerously, and Jewel caught the warning just barely before the damage. The once mighty and sturdy jungle tree crackled and collapsed, barely missing Jewel.

"Jewel!" Someone called out, concealed by the infinite ashes.

The billowing smoke thickened, and the landscape seemed to suck into the ground. It was then that Jewel noticed that she was falling.

"JEWEL!" 

Blu earned himself a whack in the head as Jewel shot up from her nightmare. Sweat trickled down Jewel's neck as the smoke cleared. An innocent voice calmed her back to reality.

"Mom?" 

She looked at her three kids, all staring in worry, along with Blu, who was rubbing his forehead where she had connected with. A faint echo of the dream remained as her breathing slowly calmed. She violently shook her head, trying to get the last vestiges out.

"It's okay, it's just a bad dream," Blu said, comforting her.

"I'm fine," Jewel grunted in reply.

It was much to vivid... Much too realistic to be a dream. Jewel looked up, and , much to her annoyance, saw that her little nightmare had woken everyone up.

"Seriously, I'm fine," Jewel shooed, gesturing them to leave and go about their business.

The kids gladly obliged, but Blu remained behind. Jewel rubbed her forehead, wondering where the dream came from. Blu simply continued rubbing where Jewel had hit.

"Sorry," Jewel apologized lamely, not in the mood to apologize in the first place.

There was something about he dream that bothered her deeply. Something that seemed... familiar.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Blu asked again. She had been thrashing around in her sleep, not to mention mumbling and sweating as well.

But Blu knew that mentioning that to Jewel would only push her into further discomfort, and kept it from her.

"You... wanna talk about it?" Blu probed again.

"It's just a dream. Don't trouble yourself over a dream," Jewel rejected his attempt.

Blu took it as a sign that she wanted to be left alone, and excused himself with the task of getting breakfast. Jewel sighed. Maybe she should have opened up. The voices echoed again. Jewel hissed.

 _Nightmare... Or Memory?_

Meanwhile the kids were fooling around among themselves. Carla and Tiago had set up a little trap for Bia, who, as usual, was reading a book. It was simple. Tiago had caught a tiny little spider on a stick, and couldn't help but think of Bia or Blu's reaction to it. Since Blu was out, there was only Bia to prank. Bia hadn't seen her siblings creep into her room, and conceal themselves against the ceiling, and she certainly wasn't expecting anything at the moment. Tiago lifted the stick, with the spider dangling on a thin line of web, and shook gently. The spider spun more, and slowly crept downwards more and more with its growing line of web. The little arachnid dropped onto Bia's beak like a ninja, and crawled around briefly. Bia twitched as her nose was slightly disturbed. Then, to Tiago's and Carla's horror, the spider crawled into Bia's left nostril. Carla silently screamed in disgust, while Tiago gaped. Bia twitched even more, and suddenly took in sharp breaths of air. The irritant in her nostril caused her to sneeze, and was expelled as quickly as it took to enter. Bia's face turned pale as she noticed that came out of her nose. Her eye twitched at the thought of more hiding, and she scratched at her nose frantically. Tiago began giggling at the scene, while Carla gaped on in horrified silence. Bia turned up for a moment, and spotted the two culprits.

"How the heck did you get a spider in my nose?!" Bia literally tried to scream out.

"We didn't intend for that. It crawled in," Tiago explained.

"That was the most disgusting thing I have ever seen," Carla mumbled, still loud enough for Bia to hear.

Bia sighed.

"I am going to be stuck with this horrid thought of a spider nest in my brain for a long time," Bia slapped her head with a wing.

"Oh my, don't even start on it. I'm so out," Carla let herself out, not wanted to see or hear anything gruesome.

Tiago turned to leave, but caught Bia's angry glare.

"Heheh," Tiago smiled, and then rushed off, with Bia not far behind.

"You are so dead!"

"If you'd just look up, you would've seen it before it entered!" Tiago yelled back, trying desperately to justify his case.

"You are DEAD to me!" Bia yelled back, as her head pictured the disgusting scene of a spider entering her nose.

Jewel looked outside, distracted by the noise, and the two zipped past her just as she stuck her head out. Bia really did remind her of the time she tried to chase Eri. Bia was never going to catch Tiago, that's for sure.

Soon, Blu returned with food, and Bia was lying on the platform panting heavily. As expected, she couldn't match her brother's speed, and only gave up trying when she literally couldn't fly an inch more.

"Gee, what happened to you?" Blu asked, dropping quite a few nuts on the platform.

"Tiago put a spider in my nose," Bia said simply.

"No I didn't! It crawled in on its own!" Tiago called from on top of his room, far away from Bia.

"Hi Blu, what did you bring back?" Jewel asked, as she stepped outside, finally over her dark mood.

"A lot of nuts," Blu replied, looking at the stash. He couldn't find any fruits, so he settled for nuts.

"Wow, that's a lot of nuts," Carla commented. She had waltzed out from her room, with her face blank, still trying to rub away the memory of the disgusting prank she had witnessed.

"Do I get to eat in my room?" Tiago called from his sanctuary from his angry sibling.

"If you do, I will be there too," Bia replied with not much emotion. She was still physically drained by her failed chase. Tiago gulped at what he thought was coldness.

"Come on, I'll make sure Bia doesn't hurt you too bad," Jewel promised with a smirk.

Tiago had chose to eat in his room, with Blu tossing the nuts over to him. Bia was eagerly scoffing down her food, knowing that she could catch Tiago in his room if she hurried. Carla and Jewel were still eating slowly, both with rather empty heads at the moment. Blu was simply staring at his family's new, and rather strange, behaviors. Bia soon finished her portions, and shot toward Tiago's room.

"Alright, I'm not done with you," Bia started, then saw Tiago lying down in his room, with not a single nut eaten. Bia paused her attack, and observed her brother's lethargy.

"Pause for a moment, I don't feel too good," Tiago mumbled.


	8. Triple Infection

"We should bring you to see Tulio."

Blu was fussing over Tiago's condition, and all his suggestions were getting rasher and rasher.

"Blu, it's just a slight fever," Jewel tried to calm him down.

Even Tiago was looking in amusement at Blu's paranoia. Apparently his parent cared more about his sickness than he did. Bia stared from a corner, feeling rather cheated. She was still somewhat angry at the prank he pulled off, but was too worried about his well being to try anything in return. Carla was next to her, watching in interest. It was, after all, the first time she saw a sick bird. Tiago coughed lightly a few times, and Blu reeled back.

"Cover your beak when you cough...We don't want your sickness as well," Blu advised.

His sentence made everyone turn to look at him.

" _We_ can catch _his_ fever?" Jewel asked with some concern.

"How does he pass that to us?" Bia squeaked, edging back like Blu did.

"Coughing expels some microorganism out, and if those microorganisms get inside us, we may get sick," Blu explained in what he thought was simple.

All he did was further confuse everyone.

"Never mind. Just don't stay near him, unless it's necessary," Blu warned.

"Tiago, rest here," Jewel instructed. "When I say rest, I mean it. Don't move out for no reason."

Tiago nodded sheepishly, a little annoyed at his confinement.

"Can we stay here?" Carla asked.

"Only if you keep to this side of the room," Blu said, pointing to the area directly opposite from Tiago.

"Okay," Bia replied.

Soon after, Blu went to fetch water, and Jewel went back to her room, listening intently in case anything happened to Tiago.

"Hey Tiago," Bia smiled sweetly. " _Karma_."

Tiago rolled his eyes. He suddenly smiled, and stared at Bia, causing her to stare back, anticipating some kind of trick. Tiago lurched forward, causing Bia and Carla to both jump backwards, still wary of catching his sickness.

"Don't do that!" Carla scolded, as Tiago laughed, and sat back down.

"You little plague bringer," Bia huffed.

Tiago laughed again, but broke into a it of coughing. Bia and Carla shielded themselves with their wings, groaning in unison. The coughing had alerted Jewel, and she popped in to check on him. She caught Tiago still smiling, concluded that there was not much of an issue and left the kids alone again.

"For a sick bird, you're smiling pretty widely," Jewel muttered as she left.

"She's right, you know," Bia continued, peering at Tiago.

"I have every reason to be happy," Tiago smirked, and the girls mentally prepared themselves for another one of Tiago's scares. Before he could even try, Bia broke into a fit of throaty coughing. Carla edged away, out of the room before charging at full speed to Jewel.

"Karma hmm?" Tiago laughed.

Bia shot an annoyed look, peeved that his sickness was probably passed to her. She huffed and went to her own room, grumbling as she did so. Tiago chuckled to himself as he leaned against the wall behind him, and stared out of the entrance. Then it dawned to him that he chased out the only sources of entertainment he had. Tiago groaned knocked his head against the wall.

Carla sneezed as she reached Jewel's room. Her mother looked up with a face of pure shock. If Carla didn't suspect that she was sick, she would've been laughing.

"Bia might be sick too," Carla said, with a sheepish smile.

Blu had finally returned and saw, to his annoyance, that Bia and Carla were sick as well. The three were all in Tiago's room, and Blu and Jewel had to play nurse for most of the day.

"I will personally skin you," Bia grumbled in a rough voice. The sickness was giving her a sore throat, and it made her sound rather odd.

"No way you can now," Tiago teased.

"You two won't be so active once the fever kicks in, so maybe don't hear up your body before we know if you will get one?" Blu separated the two, and shifted Carla in the middle.

"Aw what! Now they'll fight _through_ me!" Carla whined.

"Keep him from annoying me, and I won't bother," Bia yawned, continuing with her reading. The book was much taller than her, and she used it as a curtain between her and the rest, confining herself in a corner.

"What happens if I poke the book?" Tiago chuckled.

"Try, and lose some feathers," Bia replied, her muffled voice echoing from the little room.

Tiago couldn't resist the chance, and crawled toward the book. Carla shifted away to the corner, anticipating a war zone soon.

"Bia, Tiago is gonna poke your book," Carla warned. "Don't say I didn't warn ya."

No reply.

Tiago pushed the book a little, and the whole thing dropped to one side, revealing Bia. Tiago frowned in annoyance. Bia was lying on the ground, sleeping.

"She sure knows how to ruin my fun," Tiago grumbled.


	9. Warming Rain

Light rain was pelting down from the heavens, with much more reserves to spare. The occasional bead of freezing water would enter and sting the residents inside the treehouse, which had no doors in any of the rooms. Carla grumbled as another bead shocked her from sleep yet again. She fluffed up her feathers for the umpteenth time, and shifted further into a corner. Just as she tried to enjoy the temporary warmth, another icy bead of water invaded the room, and seeped into her feathers. Carla shivered in the cold, as a gust of chilly wind threw even more icy darts inside.

 _Always has to be too hot to too cold..._

Carla complained in her head, not even bothering to repeat her old process of trying to get warmer. A roar of thunder boomed, its fearsome volume echoing throughout the forest. Carla flinched at the sudden noise, and peered outside. It looked like a horror movie, and the circular entrance was her television screen. The trees were rocking violently in the storm, and water was pouring from,the sky in thin, sleek beads.

Bia had woken up in her room to the sudden burst of thunder earlier. She looked around in confusion, before trying to go to sleep again. Just like Carla, the irritatingly cold atmosphere with the tiny beads of water kept her awake and shivering. Bia tried to rub her limbs to warm them down, but it hardly worked. The wind was just much too cold. Goosebumps formed on her, as she crawled to a corner of the room, where her books were. She slowly piled a few between her and the entrance. Her weary arms ached at the new strain, and worked at lowered efficiency.

 _I just recovered from Tiago's flu... I am not going to catch another one!_ Bia grumbled in her head, more determined to finish her makeshift wall.

Another burst of thunder shocked Bia to her full senses, much to her annoyance. No way she could happily drop back to sleep anymore. She stacked the last book, and stayed behind the new obstacle. It certainly was warmer, but only just that bit warmer. Bia curled into a ball, and tried to warm her arms with her breath. Still not working.

Blu awoke as something kicked him in the gut. He shot up, coughing and wheezing at the sensation, then he noticed the culprit.

Jewel was having another nightmare.

And by the looks of it, it didn't look very mild. She was tossing and flipping around, muttering something in her sleep. It was no wonder that he got kicked. Blu edged carefully toward her, and wrapped his wings around her, keeping her warm from the cold air. For once in a long time, Blu actually felt chilled. It was a step down from the temperature in Minnesota, but still wasn't that warm either. It must have been freezing for his family, who were used to the heat instead. In his warmth, he felt Jewel's ragged breathing normalize, and her heart rate slow to a more calmed pace.

 _What could be going on in your head now?_ Blu couldn't help but imagine what Jewel was dreaming about. So many nightmares in a row.

Then it dawned to him.

Jewel was cold. The kids must have been freezing.

Blu cringed at the thought of walking out in the wet, cold rain. Well, that, or he might find his kids frozen solid in their rooms in the morning. Blu groaned, and slowly unwrapped his wings from Jewel, and hesitated briefly once again, before braving the wet storm.

Carla was snuggled in a corner, still trying to keep warm. Blu found her, and stooped to carry her back to his room, bent so that most of the rain would hit his back instead.

"Dad?" Carla asked, opening her eyes as she felt the temperature rise to a cosy level. Blu smiled down at her, and placed her gently in Jewel's wings. Carla soon fell asleep in the more favorable heat, using Jewel's wing as a warm blanket.

Blu entered Bia's room, and almost knocked down a pile of books stacked on one another right in the middle of the room. Bia was wide awake, and was shivering and chattering. She calmed down as Blu scooped her up, and made his way back to his room. Bia flinched a little as he walked into the rain, but relaxed as she noticed that most of it was blocked by her father. Blu did the same with her, and left her with Jewel.

 _Only one left._

Blu made his way to Tiago's room through the pelting rain. Tiago was strangely still sleeping peacefully, and seemed unaffected by the cold. Blu ferried him to his room anyway, taking the same precautions so as to not wet him.

As his family was gathered into that one room, Blu easily, wrapped his wings around the group. Bia was the last to sleep, but even she couldn't stay awake for long in the comforting warmth, and began to doze off shortly after Blu returned. Blu closed his eyes slowly. His back was dripping wet, but his front was dry and warm enough for comfort. As he almost drifted off to sleep, Jewel mumbled something in her sleep' that made Blu's feathers slightly more chilled.

 _"Dad... I miss you..."_


	10. Water works

Bia felt herself snuggling comfortably in something soft and warm, and for some time, she enjoyed the time with her mind shut off, enjoying the plain heavenly comfort. The air was still cold, but not in a unbearable way, and helped to keep the macaws from heating up too much in their current state. Bia smiled. It had been so long since she last had such a nice place to sleep. The last time she had it was... Bia opened her eyes at that thought. Just as she had expected, she was sleeping on Blu. Her family was all snuggled together in a group, with Tiago, Carla and herself, with Jewel and Blu around them.

 _How did I get here?_ Bia wondered.

She vaguely remembered that it was freezing last night, then Blu carried her over to his room, where Jewel and Carla were. He walked through cold and merciless rain just to keep her warm. Bia felt guilty of the thought of causing so much trouble.

"Thanks Dad," she murmured, almost inaudible, as she leaned against him and peered at him. To her surprise, Blu shifted a little.

"Good morning," Blu greeted softly, careful not to disturb the rest.

Bia reddened, half hoping that Blu didn't hear what she said earlier.

"To you as well," Bia replied cheerfully.

"Are you cold?" Blu asked, still attempting to keep his volume down.

"Not anymore," Bia smiled.

Jewel stirred a little, then crawled up gently. Blu let his wing slide off her as she got up. Jewel kissed Blu on the cheek as she did so.

"Morning," Jewel greeted. "You are up much earlier than before."

Blu shrugged. It was simply a streak of coincidences, and he secretly hoped that nobody would expect him to do it regularly. Jewel noticed Bia watching, got a little confused for a moment. She looked outside, and saw the dampened surroundings, and could catch the strong stench of a storm. She noticed Blu's damp back, and put two and two together. Guilt struck her as she realized that she slept through the time where Blu had to bring the kids in to shield them from the storm.

"I'll go and fetch breakfast," Jewel said, hoping to make up for it.

"Are you sure? It is still drizzling a little," Blu said.

"Don't worry, it's fine," Jewel promised.

As she left to forage, Blu peered down at Bia.

"You might want to check on your room," Blu advised.

Bia gasped as she remembered what she did with the books. Like a blue streak of lightning, she shot out to check on them.

Blu thought about installing doors of some kind on the room entrances. It would help to prevent such things from happening again. He peered back at Tiago and Carla.

 _They should be fine on their own._ Blu thought.

With that, he left for the aviary not too far away to fetch some help.

In her room Bia was arranging her books back to their original places. It was a miracle that none were soaked. But some were moist on the outside, and Bia had left them open in her room to try and dry them. While she flipped open a thick book to leave it to dry, a thinner one revealed itself among the pages. Bia frowned. She had never seen that book before. She picked it up. The cover was decorated with a brilliant picture of many butterflies, and Bia's eyes sparkled at the majestic and beautiful sight. She sat down, and opened the book. It was a book of butterflies, with one per page. Bia checked the last page. One hundred and two pages. As she eagerly sat down to begin, Tiago popped into her room. Bia pretended not to notice. Tiago smirked, and tried to sneak up on her.

"Don't try it, Tiago," Bia warned, not even turning from the page.

Tiago groaned, and plopped down beside Bia.

"Whatcha readin'?" Tiago asked, peering at the contents with some interest.

"Stuff about butterflies," Bia replied simply.

"That's a butterfly?" Tiago asked, pointing at a picture of a spiky caterpillar.

"That's what it looks like before becoming a butterfly," Bia replied again.

Tiago scoffed. "What, you mean it turns into an egg and mutates into a butterfly?" He asked, half dubious and half sarcastic.

"Surprisingly close. The caterpillar hatches from an egg, sheds and grows a few times, spins a pupa and then develops into a butterfly inside," Bia explained, causing Tiago to feel stupid for a moment. Every word seemed to fly above his head.

"Pupa...?" Tiago mumbled, scratching his head.

Bia ignored him this time round. It was more complex to explain it to him from there.

"I have no idea what you're saying. I'll just... go for now," Tiago excused himself, walking out.

Bia grunted in return.

"Pupa..." He mumbled again as he left.

Carla was still snoring at the same spot where Blu had left her. Tiago watched in slight amusement. Then an idea dawned to him. He moved out to find his supplies, eager to see Carla's reaction.

Jewel was flying into the hollow, with two fruits in her talons. The moment she landed inside, there was a splash of water. Tiago had dumped water on Carla while she was asleep. Well, not asleep anymore. Carla stared in disbelief at her ruined feathers as Tiago was laughing at her plight. A smirk formed on Carla's face when she realized how to get back at him. In a swift pounce, she jumped on Tiago, wiping off the water on him instead. Her brother squirmed at his new wet state, trying to push Carla away as the water from her seeped into his feathers.

"Did you guys need to play with water inside," Jewel asked.

The two halted their wrestling, and peered up at their mother.

"Oops. Sorry," Tiago apologized sheepishly.

"Where's Blu?" Jewel asked. If he had been around, maybe Tiago wouldn't have went on with his destructive prank.

 _Who am I kidding..._ Jewel thought. _It's Tiago after all._


	11. Occupation

The night sky had never been darker. The usual stars that illuminated the darkness seemed to have been avoiding one large area in the sky, creating what looked like a nasty blotch. Rafael looked at the sky. It was strangely unsettling, but the toucan couldn't pin down the exact reason why. A strange, but faint noise echoed through the jungle. Rafael strained his ears. It sounded like an arguing mouse. Many arguing mice. Rafael squinted at the dark blotch in the sky. Was it... Moving? His question was soon answered. What seemed like a black patch in the sky seemed to disintegrate, revealing the stars behind. As the unknown thing separated, Rafael could vaguely see each of its parts. It seemed... To have wings. The squeaking noise got louder and more frequent. Rafael's pupils seemed to have shrunk as his whites dominated his eye. He turned around, noticing some stirring from the hollow. His kids and Eva had awoken to the irritating noise. He turned to look again, silently praying, hoping that it wasn't what it seemed. His fears only came true.

Blu rubbed his eye as he was shocked awake by the sound of what seemed like fighting and screaming. He patted his head in confusion, expecting it to be a dream, but the distant noises were still clearly present. Jewel flinched at a particularly loud sound, and soon got up as well.

"What is that?" She asked groggily, getting up from her position.

"I don't know," Blu replied, staring out the hollow.

He pushed open the newly installed door, which was more of a horizontal hatch, and didn't even come with a lock. He looked out, scanning the area for any signs of the cause of the noise. He turned deathly pale when he saw what seemed like a black tornado some distance away. Except it wasn't a tornado. Large groups of birds were escaping the area, but there was something else. Something charging into the area from above.

"What's going on?" Jewel asked, gaping at the scene.

A pop was heard as Carla, who was also rudely ripped from her dreams by the irritating sound, opened her room's hatch. Not too long after, Tiago and Bia were disturbed as well, and peeked out their rooms to see the problem. All three had frozen at the sight.

"Don't leave. I am going to go check on it," Jewel stated her intentions, and went to see the issue on her own. Blu hesitated. He was cautious of whatever caused it, but Jewel was already flying off, becoming a speck as she flew towards the fleeing residents.

"Dad, what is going on?" Bia couldn't help but ask.

"I don't know, sweetie," Blu replied. "I don't know."

A sense of dread filled him as he replied. Something was wrong. Gravely wrong.

Rafael was in a panic. He rushed his kids and Eva to quickly pack up and get ready to go, looking as black objects invaded other hollows, already expelling other residents. One of the objects flew over, and landed heavily on the hollow entrance. Rafael took a few steps back as he and his family froze at the paralyzing sight. A giant bat, at least a head taller than Rafael, had landed.

"We may dispense with the pleasantries," the intruder said.

His voice was gruff, and deep, aptly sounding like a movie villain, with the looks of one too. His cheek had a jagged scar and his eyes seemed reddish in the dark. Sharp gangs glistened as he smirked.

"Out. Or I start attacking," he snarled.

Without warning, the kids rushed him, much to Rafael's shock.

"No! Stay back!" He snapped, but it was too late. With one well timed, powerful swipe, the bat swatted half a dozen of the kids away, and they hit a hollow wall. Before the rest could focus on their assault, he grabbed one of the young ones.

"Out," he snarled again, his grip on the toucan's neck tightening a little. The child gasped for air, but still managed a glare of defiance.

"Stop!" Rafael cried out. "Put him down. We will leave."

Eva, who was normally bossy and intimidating to many others, was stunned shocked at the bat and his battle skills. Nobody had done that to her kids before. And she could feel her anger slowly boil in defense. Rafael noticed it, and calmed her down before she could try anything rash. The bat gave a mocking laugh and dropped the toucan, who fell the the floor coughing and wheezing.

Scooping up the kids that were too dazed to function, the toucan family flew from the hollow, expelled from their home. Rafael gasped at the new sight. Bats were swarming the area, invading the residents. A scream made Rafael flinch, and he turned to see someone getting thrown out of his hollow by a bat.

"Daddy, what's happening?"

Rafael froze at his child's scared voice. He didn't know either. He hesitated as he tried to think of a suitable answer, but his mind was too numb with shock to think of anything smooth enough.

"Don't worry about it. We just need to find someplace to stay for now," he muttered, half of his mind against saying it.

As they fled from the commotion, Eva spotted a blue speck coming closer. It was Jewel.

"What is going on?" Jewel demanded to know. She saw the ghostly looks on most of the family, and the shivering kids, and she looked slightly apologetic for her aggressiveness.

"We need someplace to go for now. I really need to ask you for a serious favor," Rafael requested.

Jewel halted for a moment, expecting what was coming next. But it wasn't the time to act reluctant.

"Is there vacancies in your place?" Rafael asked.

Jewel nodded, "Enough for all of you."

Rafael and Eva thanked her gratefully. While the rest left for the blue macaw household, Rafael stayed with Jewel to explain the situation. In a shaky voice, he began.

"It's a hostile takeover. A tribe of bats are driving out all other species to capture the area for their own use," he said.

"Bats?" Jewel asked, a little confused. She was expecting the tiny little mammals that were about half her size.

"Large bats. Even taller than I am," Rafael added gravely.

Back at the hollow, Blu had brought all his and Jewel's brood to their room, and allowed the three extra rooms for the toucans.

"Okay, this is the last book," Blu wheezed, pushing the thickest of Bia's stack into the room. Bia was pulling from the front, and was frankly not helping much.

"Thanks," Bia panted as the book finally reached the corner, where some others already resided.

Blu stared out the entrance. The toucans were strangely quieter, and he didn't hear the usual buzz of noise at Rafael's. Worried, he went to check on his guests, only to get a shock of his life. The kids were all huddled together and shivering in each of the rooms, and Eva was scrambling around the three rooms trying to calm them.

 _Something bad must have happened. Something very bad_.

The pang in his gut continued as he thought about the possible problems. Fire? Poachers? It was a protected area, poachers would have to get through a hell lot of effort just to _start_ catching animals. He didn't see any smoke either. He could only guess. The strange idea that aliens landed there couldn't leave his head. There was something entering the pandemonium after all. The sight of Eva entering one of the rooms yet again snapped him from his thoughts.

"I will be gathering food. Any preferences?" Blu offered.

"Anything's fine. Thank you Blu," Eva was grateful as well.

Blu nodded, and took off to forage. 21 kids and 4 adults. It was going to be a hell of an amount he needed.


	12. The Patrol

As daybreak arrived, the bustling Blu had expected finally caught up. The toucans began their bickering and their playing, and the area seemed all the more packed. Tiago and Carla were having the time of their lives racing around with them, but Bia was getting more and more irritated. She couldn't even hear her own thoughts over the noise outside, and the somber and depressing mood set by the book she was reading was shattered like a shard of glass that fell from the sky. She hissed as the temptation to go and tell them to be quiet grew and grew. She stormed over to a pile of cloth she used as a blanket and a bed, and held the sheets to her ears, blocking out most of the distraction. Since the rainy day, Blu had brought back warm sheets for everyone, and had Tulio install doors in their rooms. At that thought, Bia shut the room door as well, and sat back down to read in silence. She flipped back a few pages which she attempted to read through the commotion, and continued.

Outside, Carla met up with Tiago during a game of catch, and the two looked for somewhere to hide. As they saw the shut door to Blu and Jewel's room, they rushed over, and sneaker in. They shut the door silently so as to not cause any noise, and sat against it panting softly.

"They will never dare to open this door after Eva screaming at them just now," Tiago chuckled.

Carla suppressed a laugh as well, as she realized their immunity in the game. They both froze as they heard a silent sob. They turned around and saw Bia crying while reading a dense book, wiping away tears with the sheets, which were doubling as ear plugs. Carla and Tiago rushed over in worry, and got in front of her.

"Hey what's wrong?" Carla asked.

Bia jumped a little and stared at the intrusion with shock. Immediately, her normally light blue face turned beetroot and she rubbed her face fiercely to get rid of any tears left. Tiago and Carla began to get the message that she wasn't sad in any way.

"Wait!" Tiago began laughing. "You're crying at something in the book!"

Bia turned even redder, and started stuttering.

"Uh, no!" She blurted out brainlessly.

Tiago laughed even harder, and Carla couldn't help but snicker a little as well.

"Bia, you're completely red!" Carla pointed out.

Bia let out a hiccup, and tried to hide in the sheets, drawing more laughter from Tiago, who was already rolling on the floor.

"Oh man! This is gonna be remembered forever!" Tiago chortled.

"I'm telling you! They're inside!" A muffled voice silenced Tiago.

"But Mom will kill us if we go in!" Another voice whined.

"Tiago! This is cheating!" A voice shouted out.

"Okay, okay," Tiago wheezed, voice cracking from laughing so much. He was still giggling uncontrollably as he told Bia to go hide herself behind the book, which she gladly did so, before he opened the door. He was greeted by a sight that ripped the smile off his face. Carla and Bia detected an issue, and the vestiges of amusement and embarrassment drained away into worry. Carla went to see for herself, and the color drained from her face as well. A gasp escaped from her beak before she froze on the spot.

"Get in! All of you!" Blu yelled in aggression. Immediately the little ones obeyed and made themselves scarce, closing the doors behind them. The adults formed a ring between the rooms and the enemy on the platform. Two bats had spotted them while scouting, and had attacked. The regret slowly showed as they were nicked and cut over and over again and again by Jewel and Blu, and hit repeatedly by Rafael and Eva. They were a terrifying but sorry sight. The cuts and bruises made them look like powerful fighters, but in reality they were completely weakened and dazzled by the bright sun in the sky. The two sides faced each other, both anticipating an attack, but one of the bats shot off in cowardice, and the other followed. In a furious fervor, Jewel grabbed onto one of the bats which was about her size and slammed him into the platform, where the others piled on and restrained him. The last of his fight slid away, and he struggled to escape. His partner flew away even faster, disappearing into the trees.

"Time for some answers," Jewel glared at the crippled enemy.

Tiago's old room was cleared of the kids, and the bat was tied onto a heavy stack of rocks, with his wings wrapped around one. As the blind fury in the fight dissipated, the others noticed that the captive was young and frightened. Although large, he was possibly just a teenager in his tribe.

"Why is your tribe here?" Blu asked.

The bat replied after slight hesitation. There was no harm in that information.

"We were expunged from our land in the Amazon. We have been migrating to a suitable spot, and the tribe chief decided that it was to be here," the bat said.

"What can possibly expunge you?" Rafael probed.

Understanding that the questions were purely curious and had no intention of squeezing information, the bat calmed down and opened up a little more.

"Basically larger and fiercer bats," he said simply. "They attacked and injured too many of us. We were forced to leave. We flew for days before reaching here, and the chief declared that it was safe here."

Jewel and Blu looked at each other, not too sure what to think of them anymore.

"If you're just seeking refuge, why throw all the residents out in the process?" Jewel asked. It was the only glaring question not yet answered.

"Our tribe is war like. Most have hardened themselves and learnt to not trust anyone outside the tribe. The leader ordered that the area be cleared for our use and our use only," the captive replied, his rather blunt answer earning him a glare from Jewel. He flinched at the glare, and Jewel abruptly remembered his age.

"You don't seem that hardened," Blu muttered, but the bat heard him.

"I used to be," he admitted. "But my parents were killed that night my tribe was expunged."

The bat's ears drooped, mirroring his current mood.

"I can't stand this violence any longer," he sighed. "I have nothing to fight for, other than my people. And now that they have a home, there is nothing left to fight."

"Your people have their new home," Eva exploded in a fit of rage. Rafael gasped and grabbed her before she could attack the captive. The bat flinched at the sudden attempt.

"But what about the people you forced out?! What about our homes?!"

The captive remained silent. It became clear that he had never thought of it. The very observation made Eva ready to lunge again, but Rafael held her back once more.

"Sweetie, calm down," Rafael pleaded. Eva huffed and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

"We should let him go."

The group turned to the bird who made the suggestion. It was Blu.

"He is just a teenager. And he hasn't done anything to really deserve being kept here," Blu continued.

"He attacked us!" Jewel reminded harshly. It was a teenager, but he came from a warrior tribe, and could've been dangerous if he wasn't subdued. Suddenly, the bat's ears prickled up, and his pupils shrunk into mere dots. He lifted his head intently, his large ears moving slightly. The birds looked at the bat, a little freaked out by his actions. Soon after, his pupils broadened again.

"My tribe is calling back the patrols."

Blu and Rafael looked at Jewel in worry. It was now or never. Jewel sighed.

Eva was shocked by the freed bat, and was prepared to chase him when Blu stopped her.

"What in the world did you do!" Eva yelled at Rafael, more of an angry statement than a question.

"We freed him. It was either that, or risk the bat tribe attacking us," Jewel replied in an emotionless tone. She was still conflicted over the decision. Eva hissed in frustration as she realized that there was hardly any way to get her home back. Rafael placed a wing gently on her shoulder and whispered to her to try and calm her. Her spiked feathers slowly dropped down again, and she converted her rage into simple sadness. The two toucans gazed toward their old hollow.

Blu and Jewel looked at the couple in pity. What were they going to do now?


	13. Bad Neighbours

"You told them everything?"

His voice was soft and malicious, and the recipient shivered slightly. He perceived the question as a rhetorical one, and stayed silent.

"You were trained from birth to be completely loyal to the tribe."

The statement bore a tint of anger.

"How can you be so weak?"

The question was yet again rhetorical, but the recipient didn't get the hint this time.

"But sir, the information I provided is harmless to the tribe!" He protested, before realizing his mistake.

An aura of dread hit him hard as the chief dropped from the branch, flipping back to the right side up. As he towered above his subject, the teenager froze in his tracks.

"You have the gut to talk back to me, but no gut to shut up in front of a few weak birds!" The chief spat in disgust.

"I don't want to hear it again." His face returned to an eerie calm and he flew past the now shivering bat. He landed on a branch not too far off, and lazily handed out two orders in whispers. Two heavily built bats nodded, and took flight to execute the order.

Bia shrieked as she shot around the tree with all the toucans chasing her. In Tiago and Carla's attempt to get her to join the game, the toucans were accidentally involved, and things escalated quickly. Tiago and Carla laughed as they followed, a little guilty, but mostly amused.

"Stop chasing me!" Bia panted as she shot forwards in her continued attempt to escape.

The kids weren't even trying to catch her, just getting her to move more, as Tiago put it. It was glaringly obvious that Bia was slower than her siblings, and everyone had to fly at a slower pace to keep her running. After what seemed like the fifth round she made around the aviary kitchen, the toucans finally decided to go at their full speed, and soon they caught Bia.

"I am going... to boil... you two... alive!" Bia wheezed at Tiago and Carla, who snickered at her threat, with all the toucans squirming in a pile above Bia.

"Oh come on! You were reading for 4 hours straight! Just come out for a moment," Carla attempted to justify the accident.

Bia opened her mouth to argue, but closed it and groaned.

"Cheer up! Since you're already out, you can join in the game!" Tiago laughed.

"But I'm so tired!" Bia whined as the toucans got off.

"Aw come on, it was just 4 laps around the kitchen," Tiago replied.

"I'd like to see you fly around it four times at top speed with a pack of birds chasing you!" Bia huffed, flipping onto her back.

"Hey guys, wanna see how Tiago looks like after he flies around the kitchen four times?" One of the toucans asked eagerly.

"Oh no," Tiago immediately stopped laughing, and shrieked and flew as everyone except Bia shot after him.

Two black silhouettes spied on the playing birds from the cover of a tree's shade.

"That one is alone," one of them observed.

Bia stared in amusement at Tiago protesting as he flew his second lap around, and didn't notice the silent danger looming behind her. Not until it was too late. A shadow darkened where she stood, and she turned around in dread. Bia's eyes widened at the sight. She screamed, and immediately tried to run, but the bat picked her up in his claws and shot off toward the trees. Bia's screaming halted the game the kids were playing, and they whitened at the sight.

"Bia!" Tiago screeched and shot after her, with Carla and the toucans following close behind. The adults shot out of the rooms upon hearing the commotion, and took chase.

As the bat flew off, the birds tried to follow, but the kids, who had the head start were in front. Just what the bats had planned. Out of nowhere, a net shot from a hole in a tree, trapping Tiago, Carla and two of the toucans. The net was thrown to the bat, and he swooped down to catch it, and resumed his escape. The other bat slapped away the rest of the kids, and with a snarl, turned to face Jewel and Rafael. He was huge, towering over even Rafael, at almost double his height. His fangs glistened in the slight hint of light that reached him.

"Stay back!" Rafael ordered his kids, and they reluctant obeyed, watching from a distance away.

"Go after the other one, we'll hold him here!" Jewel stood her ground, and Blu and Eva rushed after the escaping bat.

The large barrier spat at Jewel and Rafael, and took a stand against both. Jewel lunged at the bat sticking out a talon toward her target. Rafael followed, but with his beak spearheading the attack instead. The bat swerved expertly, and grabbed Jewel's tail and slammed her into Rafael. The bat turned to continue the fight, but was knocked back by a wave of bodies. The toucans pecked and ripped at the mammal's skin, and the bulky opponent roared in frustration, tossing the kids away group by group. Jewel landed close to him, and began swiping at the bat while he was distracted, aiming for the thin sheets of skin that he used as wings. Her opponent noticed her, and grabbed one of the toucans and used him as a shield. Jewel halted and hesitated a second too long, and was thrown back by the bat, along with the remaining toucans still attached to him. Rafael slammed his beak down on the bat's shoulder, and he hissed in anger, grabbing Rafael's beak with a large claw at the end of his wing. With a head butt , he slammed into Rafael's stomach, crippling the toucan. A muffled scream tried to escape, but the bat didn't loosen his grip on the toucan's beak. He threw Rafael at Jewel again, knocking the two away from him. With a final snarl, he escaped into the trees.

Blu and Eva were zooming after the bat, who was surprisingly fast for his size. The surroundings blurred at the speed, and Blu could hear his heart pounding and his lungs burning. He persevered on, beating his wings harder. Eva was visually the same, but a flash of anger was in her eyes.

The bat lurched on, rushing toward the tribe base. Once he reached, there was no way his pursuers could follow. Blu and Eva knew it, and were trying to go faster.

"Eva watch out!" Bia called from the net. Eva's eyes widened as a branch swung at her from behind a tree. It made a heavy contact, and Eva plummeted toward the ground as a result. She knocked against a tree, and fell into some shrubbery below. Blu halted reluctantly. More than five bats appeared from the darker corners around them.

"Capture them both," a sinister voice instructed.

The voice came from a particularly large bat, two times and a head taller than Blu. His wings spread out, covering a large area. His dark body seemed to absorb all light nearby, and he radiated an aura of authority and fear. Blu quivered as he looked up. A long jagged scar ran through one side of his face, through an eye socket. That eye was gray, and it occurred to Blu that he was blind there. Even with his disability, he was a fearsome sight, and his glare froze Blu in the spot. He was snapped out of his trance when something slammed onto his head. He flew around disorientated before dropping to the ground, unconscious.

Tiago was thrown into a rusty cage by his captor, and the door was locked before he could get out. For each bird, a separate cage was used, a total of seven. Two were empty. Tiago flinched as they threw his sisters with equal force into a prison of their own each, followed by the two toucans, which he recognized as Carlos and Gary. He gasped as he saw a bat placing a limp Blu and Eva into cages. Soon, they were left alone. Except for one dreadful presence. Tiago felt his heart bump faster as he approached, observing the prisoners. The gray eye seemed to move along with his normal one, as if it still functioned flawlessly. Tiago winced as he stared at him, noticing the long jagged scar on his face. The bat grunted, and moved away, such that he was roughly at an equal distance from all the cages.

"What are you doing all the way out here," he asked in a deep, and throaty voice, which sent shivers down Tiago's spine.

"You brought us here, and then you ask that?" Tiago boomed, forgetting his place.

"I mean what are you doing in Rio. Your kind are in the Amazon," he continued, peering at Tiago, Carla, Bia and Blu.

"You are scouts of some kind?" He guessed.

"You think kids are scouts? Are you out of your mind?!" Bia yelled.

"Silence," he replied curtly, silencing Bia. He landed on her cage, peering down at her, causing her to quiver slightly.

"My sanity is not in this discussion, child," he whispered threateningly. Bia flinched as he flew off the cage.

"Your parents attacked a patrol of mine. Why is that," he asked from his distance.

" _We_ didn't attack! _Your_ patrol attacked _us_! We were defending ourselves!" Carlos hissed.

"I guess they were too embarrassed to admit it," the bat replied lazily.

"Last question for you. The human establishment beside your home. It will be an ideal spot for my tribe. What do you know of it?"

The question made the blue macaws quiver a little as they realized that the sanctuary could be attacked by the bats, and overrun. Bia quickly thought of a lie to try and scare the bat.

"It's a military base."

The bat seemed to frown, deep in thought. But he wasn't convinced. Without the kids notice, he was thinking on how to get them to tell the truth. Just then, a tarantula crawled across the floor, and Bia noticed it, and couldn't peel her eyes off. Tiago and Carla were slowly getting fearful, and made subtle gestures for her to stop it. Unfortunately, it was too late, and the interrogator traced her eyes to it.

"Like spiders?" He asked slyly, plucking the tarantula from the ground. The hairy arachnid wriggled it's legs at the new environment, attempting to scramble away, but the legs only kicked out at thin air. Bia felt her heart pace increase as she realized what he was going to do.

"Seems lonely there. Don't you want a new room mate?" The bat asked, observing his catch in minor fascination. Bia quivered as he dropped it on top of her cage. Tiny clinking noises were made as the spider stumbled around the rusty metallic surface.

"Careful," the bat warned. "large spider bites hurt terribly."

The statement seemed to drain color from Bia as she whimpered in the cage. The kids watched on in horror, all unsure of what to do next.

"Sir!" A bat landed nearby, dragging the attention away. His much smaller build suggested that he was some kind of scout.

"There is a gang of marmosets closing in! Their leader wants to discuss with you."

The chief scowled, and spat toward the floor. He nodded, and the bat gestured toward a direction. The chief signaled two nearby large bats to follow, and the trio went to intercept the unwelcome guests.

"Guard them," the chief instructed before disappearing into the trees.

The silence that ensured was near deafening, except the same few noises.

Clink... Clink... Clink... Clink...

Bia jolted at each disturbance, looking around her, hoping that the spider wouldn't fall off and crawl inside the cage. Abruptly, the clinking stopped, and Bia inhaled sharply as she saw the dreaded crawler hop off the cage. It was a large on, with dark orange hair covering most of its legs and body. It stumbled around briefly, then turned at looked at the cage Bia was in. Bia muffled a squeak as she saw the front of the animal. The clinking soon continued, as the spider entered the cage, squeezing through the bars. Bia paled, and shifted to the opposite corner, staring at the intrusion with fear. The rest watched on, careful not to make any noise to shock the arachnid. There was a dreadful silence, all except the clinking, and the sound of Bia's heavy breathing. A claw grabbed the spider through the bars, and hurled it away. The kids sighed in relief, but tensed up a little when they noticed who it was.

"Aren't you the one Mom and Dad captured?" Carla asked apprehensively.

He was indeed the same one. An apologetic look flashed in his eyes as he turned away. Coughing and spluttering brought his attention back. Blu was conscious again. He crawled up in his cage, groaning. As his head finally stopped spinning, he rubbed his eyes, and got a good look at his surroundings.

"You gave us up!" Blu growled at the bat, who was near Bia's cage.

"No I didn't," he replied with a hint of anger. "My partner did. He called for help. The chief didn't regard you as a problem, but he wanted to know more about that human building nearby."

"Why would he want to know about that?" Blu demanded.

"He said this area is too bright. He said that the human building would be good for the tribe as a base."

Blu realized what it meant. Countless injured birds were already there. Tulio, Linda and Fernando could be there.

At the edge of their new found territory, the three bats found the marmoset escort and Mauro. The marmosets seemed to have suppressed stormy expressions. They were obviously not too pleased with the new tribe. But at the same time, they knew that angering a trigger happy tribe wasn't the best idea in the world.

"Well, first off," Mauro started in a forced neutral tone, "welcome to Rio. I am Mauro, the leader of the marmoset tribe here. But pleasantries aside, your patrols have been attacking my tribe."

The bats looked down at the marmosets, not impressed by their size.

"I do not bother with pleasantries. And my patrols are attacking, because your pests are in _my_ land." The chief replied curtly.

Mauro was taken aback by the bat's bluntness. This was like the Nigel situation. Except that there was no way the marmosets could overwhelm an army of warlike bats.

Defeated, Mauro reluctantly gave in to the pressure.

"Mark out the borders," he sighed.

The marmoset tribe had never been in a full scale tribal rivalry before. The area never had another tribe, and things like borders were fairly alien to the rest of the tribe as a result. There were no clear land markings, and anywhere was shared land. The bat chief spat at their leaving guests, and left to check on the prisoners again. He pushed through the leaves, and retuned to the base, only to get a shock.

The rusty cages were empty and open, with their previous contents missing. Only the spider remained, crawling around the empty cages.


	14. Out of the frying pan and into the fire

There were shouts of warning and angry commands echoing through the jungle. Blu's heart pounded faster as he realized that the bats had noticed what happened. Heavy flapping confirmed his fears as a group pursued the group. Tiago and Carla were in his talons, grabbing on tightly as the wing rushed past. Carlos and Gary were being carried by Eva, and Bia was in their helper's grasp.

"This way!" He swerved into another direction, causing Blu and Eva to follow suit.

"But the nest is that way!" Blu protested, but still followed anyway.

"You want to lead them to your nest?" He asked, somewhat dumbfounded by his stupidity.

Blu didn't reply. His wings were starting to burn in the strain of the speed, and he soon began panting heavily. The voices behind seemed to close in, but faded away slowly as the pursuers went the wrong way.

"This way you blunder heads!"

The voice was heard far away, but still too close for comfort. Blu and Eva stopped as their lead grinder to a halt. He let Bia grab on to Blu's leg, and told the two to continue flying straight.

"What are you doing?" Blu asked.

"I am going to lead them away. Now GO!" He demanded.

"Wait! What is your name?" Bia called after him.

The bat seemed irritated at the question in the heat of the situation, but answered before shooting away in another direction.

"Licorice."

As Blu and Eva continued forwards, they faintly heard Licorice shouting at the patrols.

"They're over here!"

"Don't just stay there! Chase on!" Another voice demanded.

The shouting dimmed down as the bats were led further and further away.

At the bat's central base, bats were running amok, spreading the news, and many had automatically joined the chase. The chief was desperately trying to re-establish the order within the tribe.

"Stop leaving! Recall the pursuers and patrols! The prisoners weren't important," he commanded.

Four bats with smaller builds shot after the chasers at full speed, racing to spread the order.

"Are you sure about this?" Another bat asked.

"I highly doubt those adults were going to crack anyway and scaring those annoying kids isn't getting anywhere," he growled. "Send someone to go scout the human dwelling. If it is a viable target, we strike at the cover of night."

The silence that awaited Blu was rather deafening as they hid in a hollow. Everyone was dead quiet, not dating to make a sound, listening intently for any signs of the pursuers. The silence continued for a few more minutes, before Blu finally sighed in relief.

"I think I recognize this route," Bia commented. She was still shivering slightly, still not recovered from the stress of the escape.

The rest turned to look at her, waiting for answers.

"It's on the way to the club isn't it?" She continued.

Blu peered outside, and noticed that she was right.

"Let's make our way there, it's our best bet at safety," Blu suggested. Eva nodded, still quiet in all the stress. Carlos, being the oldest of the eighteen children, was helping to calm the rest of the kids down. Tiago and Carla were still shocked silent, and Gary was sobbing a little.

"Come on," Eva cooed, leading the kids out with Blu.

The club was surprisingly empty, with only a few marmosets along with Nico, Pedro and Eri in it. As Blu, Eva and the kids entered, they saw a welcome sight.

"Mom!" Eighteen toucans yelled out in joy and tackled Eva, and Rafael rushed forward as well.

"Jewel!" Blu called out as the toucans flew off, revealing Jewel.

"Blu! Kids!" Jewel hugged her reunited family, but flinched as she made contact.

"What's wrong?" Blu noticed in worry.

"It..it's nothing," Jewel denied, and turned a little.

Blu wasn't convinced, and noticed a weird sort of patch on the wing she was trying to hide. The skin under the feathers was an alarming shade of blue and black.

"Your wing," Blu murmured, and gently held up the wound.

Tiago, Carla and Bia looked on in worry, not sure what to do next.

"It's just a bruise. It'll heal," Jewel retracted her wing, hiding a wince as she did so.

"Are you able to fly?" Blu still worried.

"Yes, I can. Just not as fast," Jewel admitted. "How did you get out?"

"The bat we freed helped us escape," Blu explained.

"Blu! Thank goodness you're safe!" Nico, Pedro and Eri landed nearby, and it was clear that they were heavily worried.

"Good timing too. We were about to try and send a rescue."

Blu turned around to see Mauro and a few marmosets nearby.

"What are you doing here?" Blu inquired.

"Marking out a plan. I fear those bats may attack, so we're planning defenses," the marmoset leader replied.

"They're planning to attack the sanctuary," Tiago reminded. The three had mostly recovered, now that they were safe.

"What sanctuary?" Mauro asked.

"There's a human-run building near our home. Injured and sick birds are taken care of there," Jewel described, as simply as she could.

"We could still solve this peacefully," Blu said. "They want a better place to live in isn't it? What's wrong with any old cave? There's tons of caves around the jungle."

"Why don't you ask them?" Jewel replied sarcastically.

"We could ask them through Licorice," Blu warmed to his idea more and more.

"And who is that?"

"The bat that released us and let us escape."

"And how do you plan on reaching him?" Jewel asked, still using an irritated cynical tone.

"Maybe you should suggest something, other than continue shooting my ideas down?"

"Don't you know more about this?"

"Are you saying you have no ideas left?"

The kids, Nico, Pedro and Mauro looked from Blu to Jewel to Blu to Jewel as the two bickered, and the discussion edged into an argument.

"Guys! Not the time!" Rafael separated the two, and stood between them.

"You are both stressed. Go and cool your heads off," Rafael suggested. He almost told them to 'tell each other exactly what they thought', but he recalled the disastrous results all that time ago. Jewel shifted away, rubbing her forehead with her good wing, mumbling to herself. Blu went the opposite direction and stared out the entrance in silence.

Rafael looked at the two, shaking his head slightly.

"Why are they so volatile?" He directed the question to nobody.

The kids were shifting awkwardly. It was the first time they saw their inseparable parents arguing, and Rafael felt some pity for them.

"Don't worry about them, they'll cool off in no time," Nico whispered to the kids, petting Tiago gently.

"You can go stick around the toucans for the meantime kay?" Pedro suggested, nudging the trio toward the other kids.

"I've got it!" Mauro boomed, beaming along with the rest of the marmosets.

Blu and Jewel whirled around, and stared at him, waiting. The rest of the birds did the same.

At the sanctuary, Tulio had noticed that the blue macaws were no where in sight. Without their consent or knowledge, there was a small hidden camera to spy on their daily life to understand more about them. He frowned. They have never been gone till so late in the evening. He studied the footage, rewinding until a point where he could see the problem. He soon found out. On the screen, an unnaturally large bat was attacking Bia. Tulio gasped as the macaws flew after it, along with some toucans. He adjusted his glasses and replayed the footage. He didn't see it wrong. A bat twice Blu's size did kidnap Bia. He raced to the phone, and began dailing.


	15. Territorial Advancement

"All we needa do is intimidate them! We simply need a few marmosets in the undergrowth and treetops to cause enough disturbances to seem like there's an army of us," Mauro beamed.

The birds, especially Bia and Blu, looked in skepticism. Intimidating a warrior tribe? It was so Mauro. Simply a plan that wasn't well thought out.

"That might backfire very badly," Jewel disagreed. "They are fierce warriors, they won't crumple at the sight of that."

"Don't worry. We will have some offensives as well. We could use your sanctuary's kitchen as a fortress," Mauro continued.

"But intimidation as a main plan is still... Sorta hard to execute isn't it?" Blu admitted as well.

"You see, we do have numbers. We have three marmosets to every one bat," But if we make it look like it's much more, they would be more tempted to retreat," the marmoset explained more.

"Well, it was a tactic used by some Chinese General. He brought locals to make war cries from beyond a ravine, so the enemy retreated from the battle, expecting much more troops on the other side."

The birds peered at Bia, wondering where she got the news.

"It was mentioned in a book I read," Bia shrugged.

"War cry eh? I like that," Mauro took the info, and scampered back to the group of discussing marmosets to add the suggestion in his plan.

"I don't know... This all seems ludicrous to me," Rafael whispered to Blu and Jewel.

"It's pretty much our only chance isn't it?" Blu sighed.

Back at the occupied area, the bat leader was meditating, hanging upside down, in the way bats were so famous of doing. His memories took him back to lengthy times ago. To the time the poachers were attacking the macaw tribes. The upside of being dull colored creatures, was that humans would almost never bother trying to poach them. Yet at that poaching spree, many from his tribe were snagged in traps, and the tribe was in shambles, trying to recover from the strikes. Though the humans weren't actively trying to catch the bats, the hidden traps and the general shape of a bat (which resembled a bird from far away) caused many to go missing, never to be seen again. At one particularly bad time, the tribes, the Spix's macaw tribe, scarlet macaw tribe, his tribe, and another tribe of bats, had to band together to clear the traps, and fight the poachers. A bird brought up the idea in the first place. A Spix's macaw.

He thought deeply as he tried to remember his name.

 _Eduardo_. 

Yes, that was it. The second in command of the Spix's macaw tribe. The chief of their tribe was an old, but wise bird. He did look like some kind of elder, but was the one responsible for his tribe's long survival. There was something else. Something about the birds that he captured reminded him of one of Eduardo's offspring.

The Spix's macaw kids he captured.

It seemed as though the small one, the one that was scared of spiders, resembled someone he had seen.

He opened his eyes, banishing his thoughts. Night was about to fall. The attack was about to commence.

Tulio was pacing around the cameras, waiting for his friend to arrive. Paul, who had been boasting about a new device to attract bats, was a local wildlife specialist that helped to fund the sanctuary as well. He was more of the scientist kind merged with the hands-on kind, always studying the animal's behaviors and inventing ways of getting closer and more interactive. Tulio believed more in using natural calls and body language to connect to wildlife, while Paul believed more in imitating looks and more subtle means of communication. Though he was specialized in many types of animals, Paul was most interested with bats, and had weird theories about them all the time. Recently, he wouldn't shut up about a new device he made that attracted bats, and he claimed that it could be used to relocate whole groups with ease. Of course, he had nothing to test it on. Until now.

Tulio noted a flash of blue in one of the screens, and rushed to observe.

The macaw family had returned to the hollow, but without the kids. A group of marmosets stopped on the platform, seemed to chatter at the birds for a moment, then went up into the trees. Tulio frowned at the screen, failing to understand the masses of moving foliage and leaves everywhere. Upon closer examination, he noticed slight protruding tails, and his eyes began roughly adjusting to the sights. The place was crawling with marmosets as well, but it was less of an issue, since Blu and Jewel didn't seem to mind too much, and the marmosets weren't acknowledging their presence either. There was a loud, reverberating noise coming from the marmosets, and Blu and Jewel seemed to be contributing to the noise intentionally as well. Tulio watched the strange display of the animals in fascination, and in slight awe. He had to go see for himself. He rushed over to the viewing panels nearby, where a few staff were already at, staring at the bizarre sight. Tulio's eyes widened as he noticed something in the dark blue sky. Black objects coming down. Bats.

"There are so many!"

The bat chief heard someone nearby exclaim.

"They are weak individually. Don't get overwhelmed, and you'll be fine. Stay flying, so that they will have difficulty reaching you," he ordered. The crowds stopped their advance short of the marmosets, just out of their range in the sky.

" _Charge_!"

The two sides clashed, and fought fiercely. Blu and Jewel were forced to just watch, Blu preventing Jewel from entering the fight due to her injury.

A few marmosets dropped from the treetops above after being rammed by a rampaging bat. The marmosets landed safely, cushioned by the thick shrubbery beneath. Blu could vaguely make out Mauro's silhouette. As usual, the marmoset chief had a paper clip keeping his tuft of hair from drooping. And Blu could see the shimmering metallic object in the fight. The marmoset was near the front, biting and hitting a bat that he was on.

"We've got to help! We can't just stand here and do nothing!" Jewel insisted, trying to break free of Blu's wings again.

"Stop being so stubborn! You're injured!" Blu held his grip.

Jewel suddenly stopped struggling, and Blu shortly felt the reason why. A familiar, yet dreading aura sent shivers down Blu's spine.

"You."

The sinister voice revealed the source of the aura. The chief lunged in, and landed heavily between Blu and Jewel, knocking the two apart. While Blu was still in the momentum of the fling, he felt his tail get grabbed, and he briefly yelled in shock and pain before getting thrown into the main room of the treehouse,

where Jewel had fallen. The large opponent squeezed through the entrance in the freed time, but had to stoop a little in the cramped area. Blu swiped at the intruder, but he grabbed his talon, and hurled him at Jewel, who was struggling to get up again. He grabbed Blu once again, singling him as the only one fit enough to be a threat, and threw him against a wall. As he did so, he felt a heavy object hurling itself at him. Jewel had recovered, and ran against him with a head butt. The bat knocked against the wall, seeing stars for a moment. The sensation was eerily familiar. His mind briefly snapped to a memory. The surroundings were encased in fire, and the poachers were escaping. In the heat of the fight with the poachers all those years ago, a fire had broken out in the forest. He remembered the smoke and collapsing trees. The surroundings were packed with escaping animals. He was looking around, stunned by the surroundings, both eyes blinking in shock and terror at the scene. A branch fell from high up. Someone had rammed into him, pushing him aside, but he still wasn't spared from all the damage. The falling branch scratched from his eyebrow, right through one of his eyes. But through the heat and the blindness, he could remembered who saved him. A small, blue macaw chick.

"You!" He barked, grinding the fight to an abrupt halt.

"You were there that day!" He continued, staring at Jewel with his one good eye, with an expression of shock. The two macaws looked at each other, clueless of whatever he was talking about.

"At the Amazon...in that fire," he whispered, looking down at nothing while his mind pictured the rest of the scene.

Jewel's eyes widened, and opened her beak to say something, but pinched it shut, lost of words.

The bat chief was about to continue, but suddenly his pupils shrunk, and his head cocked up, and he stared out the entrance. He stumbled out, and took flight. In the sudden silence that continued, Blu and Jewel hesitated, then went to the entrance.

Silence, in the middle of a battle.

Then, a mass burst of noise followed as a wave of bats shot from their areas. All were headed to a rover, with a sort of radar attached to it. The bats swarmed towards it, and the vehicle drove away. A few more stragglers escaped from the forest, following the car away.

"Let them go! Let them go!" Someone shouted. Upon the order, a few more took flight and followed the the vehicle, but stopped halfway, blinking in confusion.

"Follow your tribe, dunderheads! Get out of here!" Mauro shooed. The masses of marmosets peered at the stragglers, and the bats decided to follow their tribe, than stay and test their luck.

As the air of confusion slowly cleared, the marmosets cheered. The bats have fully retreated. They had won.

"These bats are huge! I think they are a new species!" Paul was wowing the view of the bats through the phone.

"What are you going to do with them?" Tulio inquired. _Surely not lock them in a lab?_

"I'll set up a new sanctuary at the abandoned mine. We'll stabilize the area, and it should be a fine spot. Plenty of bugs and fruit nearby, and it's mostly barren of anything that may be threatened or threatening."


End file.
